Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Australian History got rewritten yet again!

I has stirred myself to write this post after being laid prostrate upon the sofa in shock and grief.
Actually, I was trying to crochet a poncho but the damn cat wouldn't leave my yarn alone so I pulled my finger out.

The Feral Teen went off to an excursion into the Melbourne CBD today...then returned with such claptrap, garbage and waffle that I felt I should share it with you all.
Cos if I have to have this drivel driving me silly then so can you, dear reader.
You're welcome.

According to the guide the students had the Victorian goldrush only lasted 5 years.
Really?5 years?
Then would she like to explain to all those blokes digging dirt, panning, sluicing, sweating, starving and crying themselves to sleep what they were really doing for all those years after 1856?
And why on earth those silly people founded towns and tracks to further goldfields when they, apparently, did not happen?!

So, got your noggin around that little Furphy?
Here's the next one - that all the gold was completely mined from the Victorian goldfields.
So, those going silly each weekend with their metal detectors and shouting drinks at local pubs when they find themselves a nugget or 2 should know better than to perpetuate that fib.

Another was that Batman misunderstood the name for the river, taking it to be "Yarra Yarra" (correct so far) except that the guide informed them that it actually means "hairy" in the Wurundjeri language.
Not correct.

And the last little gem...
The coat of arms of Melbourne was pointed out to them with the fact that gold is not depicted on it as "gold had no influence on Melbourne because it was already an established city".No influence...?
Riiiight.
We shant mention the dozens and dozens of men who ran off to the diggings leaving businesses at a standstill bereft of labour, nor the scores of sailors who jumped ship which left gazillions of ships unable to proceed with trade, to deliver much needed goods all over the globe.
Nor should we point out that the gold escorts cobbled all the glittery stuff into the Gold Treasury (located in Melbourne but shhhh) which in turn required guards and public servants to do their bit before it was trundled off to England.
What about the gold all over the overly decorated ceiling in Parliament House in Spring St? According to their guide the gold came from the goldfields (*gasp* they must be wrong, surely?). How about the umpteen businesses, buildings, train lines, trams, trade, etc, that were created as a direct result from wealth gathered from the goldfields?
Nope, we must be mistaken, no influence whatsoever.